Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson was arrested and charged on Tuesday for child neglect after an investigation into law enforcement’s response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that occurred last February.
Scot Peterson stood by and did nothing to stop the mass shooter who ended up killing 17 students and teachers.
Peterson, 56, was arrested on 11 charges related to the Parkland shooting.
WCTV Eyewitness News reported:
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested former Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson on charges of child neglect and culpable negligence as a result of a 15-month investigation into the actions of law enforcement following the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
“The FDLE investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others,” said FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen. “There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives.”
Peterson was the school resource officer for MSD during the shooting. Officials say the investigation revealed Peterson refused to investigate the source of gunshots, retreated during the active shooting while victims were being shot and directed other law enforcement who arrived on scene to remain 500 feet away from the building.
Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently suspended Broward Country Sheriff Scott Israel over his department’s abysmal response to the Parkland shooter.
“There was no wrongdoing on my part. I served the county honorably,” Scott Israel defiantly said in a press conference just after DeSantis made the announcement in January.
Law enforcement at every level failed to stop the massacre. The Parkland shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was even on the FBI’s radar several months before he went on a shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
